Under the Big Top
by Kelkelmanbow
Summary: 1960's didn't treat orphaned sisters Paige and Lizzy well. The life of being homeless has caused Paige to love no more. However, when the circus comes to town, Paige finds Jacob Black, a star act in the circus who teaches her to love once again.
1. Chapter 1

Under the Big Top 

"Paige, Paige wake up!" Lizzy shoved her weight against my shoulder. However, being as little as she is, it didn't do much but move me a little. "Paige!" She whined. "You promised!"

I peaked an eye out from my hoody and glanced up at her. "What time is it?"

Lizzy dashed over the mattress and picked up the alarm clock across the room. Because she couldn't read it, she brought over the alarm clock. The big hand was at the three and the small hand was at the eight. I groaned and rolled onto my stomach. "Lizzers, too early."

"But Paige!" She whimpered and let the clock drop onto the floor with a thud. "I wanted to go by the pool first."

I sighed and sat up, pushing my hood back. "Did you change clothes?"

She nodded energetically, showing too big shirt for her that had a grease stain on one shoulder. She had on the same blue jeans and sneakers and her hair was down in her soft waves.

"Where'd you put the others?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Near the front door to where she scampered, she held up the black trash bag that held the clothes for the day. I ran my hand through my hair and sighed. "Alright, give me five minutes." I got up off the uncovered mattress and began to take off my sweatshirt.

"Ok, don't forget, hold onto my hand and don't leave my sight if you have to let go, alright?" I grasped her tiny hand in mine as I held onto the trash bag with the other. I looked down at her to make sure she was listening.

Lizzy nodded and stepped a bit closer to me. After looking both ways, we crossed the street and disappeared into another alleyway. Like Dad had taught me when I was her age, keep to the shadows and stay out of the riches' way.

"How 'bout here?" she prodded my arm as we passed a dumpster next to a large chain-link fence.

I looked up and down the alley, searching for any windows or cameras. If the riches catch you, you know they'll call the cops. Any boxes? If anyone else like us lived near here, there was no way we'd be getting this stuff back. Coast was clear.

"Looks fine to me," I agreed and handed her the bag. "Hold onto them." I then moved to the dumpster and took out a piece of cardboard from on top of the pile. Then moving near the chain link, I pushed the bin back about half a foot. Taking the bag back from Lizzy, I squeezed it in between the metal back and the fence and then placed the cardboard over top of it, hiding it from view. "How does that look?" I asked, stepping back to look at my work.

Lizzy nodded and wrapped her arm around my midsection. "Can we go now?" she tugged.

Grinning, I chuckled and nodded. "Alright, alright, let's get out of here." I wrapped my arm over her shoulders as we walked.

"Sissy?" She glanced up at me as we rounded the corner. "Can you do my hair when we get there?" Lizzy looked at me with pleading eyes.

I laughed and hugged her closer. "Do you have a hair tie?" I questioned.

As her response she held up her wrist, showing a hair tie that had to have been white at one time. Making me laugh once more, I kissed the top of her head. "Ok, Ok, how do you want it then?" I steered her to the left before she could miss the turn.

"Hmmm," She thought for a minute. "Oh! Oh! Like how Mommy used to do your hair!"

Although my legs were still moving, I froze. I knew what she was talking about. In the earlier days when we were jumping trains, Mom would braid my hair down my back and tie it with pieces of string that we would find. Lizzy had grown her hair out to how long mine had been in hopes that she too could have it.

"Please, Paige? For me?" She tugged my hand and looked up at me with her big eyes.

How could I say no to her? "Alright, when we get there."

Now excited, she swung our intertwined hands back and forth, a smile plastered onto her face. Once we walked another five blocks, the park in the middle of a mess of streets and cars came into view. After crossing the intersections, she ran ahead of me to the large fountain. There was a mountain with little cupids flying around it. In front of the sculpture there was a plaque that read "Love Climbs All Mountains." Mom would take us here every morning when we were little.

Lizzy sat down on the edge of the wall and looked down at the blue water in the pool. She dipped her fingers into it and smiled before sitting upright again, holding out the hair tie. I sat next to her and ran my fingers down her long hair. I had always been jealous of it. I had gotten Mom's wavy hair. It was cut at my chest. But Lizzy had strait, beautiful brown hair that went down her back. It was so soft and smooth and sleek. I began to separate the hair into three sections on her back.

"How did you get the tickets, Paige?" She asked as she twirled her fingers in the cool water.

At this I froze, swallowing hard. I didn't want her to find out. Partially I didn't want her to realize why I hadn't eaten in weeks while she ate normally, but also because I didn't want her to feel different. "A nice old couple gave them to me." I lied and began to braid her hair.

She murmured something and drew her attention back to the water.


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh! In case if I forgot to mention in the last one, I do not own characters from either Twilight or Water for Elephants! Disclaimer! My bad!**

Lizzy pulled me with all of her weight towards the direction of the crowds gathering outside the large gate to where the fair was usually held. "C'mon, Paige! C'mon!" She whined and tugged harder.

"Ok, Ok, I'm coming," I gave in and let her pull me along towards the mass of people. I pulled the two tickets out of my pocket, gripping her hand tighter once we joined the crowd. "Don't leave my sight, Ok?" I looked her seriously in the eye.

She nodded, tilting her head down slightly. I took a deep breath and squeezed her hand gently. All around us were families of three or four, dressed in dresses and nice clothes. I looked at ours and felt slightly embarrassed. I shook the matter off and grit my teeth as we were pushed forward in line. Ahead of us, a man with a tattoo down the side of his face was taking tickets. A snake was coiled up to strike on his cheek and its body slithered down his throat disappearing into his collar. Once we got to the front of the line, the man looked us up and down, taking our tickets without looking. He ripped the ends off them and smiled eerily.

"Enjoy the show," he grinned. His voice matched the tattoo on his face.

Eyeing him, I wrapped my arm around Lizzy's shoulders, holding her closer to me. "Hurry," I breathed into her ear, pushing her forward and away from the creepy man.

Lizzy's eyes lit up as soon as we passed through the gates. All around there were sideshow performers; acrobats, body benders, fire eaters. Lizzy looked every which way trying to see everything. "Paige! Look at that!" She exclaimed as a man slid a knife down his throat. I flinched and moved on quickly towards the big top tent.

* * *

><p>Lizzy was bouncing up and down in her seat. Quite literally. We had sat down on the hay bales in the front rows of the tent, the riches around us sitting in the cleaner more efficient bleachers behind us. Lizzy nudged my arm and pointed to the other end of the large tent. "Look, look, Paige! There's horses!" She was so excited she couldn't contain it anymore.<p>

Seeing the white friesians brought back painful memories. Ones where I was a baby and Mom would put me on the saddle...all before Dad was fired and the house and ranch was taken from us. Dad would tell me stories of how Mom had a gift with horses and that he would bet money that I had it too.

I flinched lightly when a loud blast of music filled the tent. Trumpets sounded as a man with black braids and a cowboy hat with feathers emerged from the main entrance of the tent. He was dressed in a red coat that matched his black hat. He raised his arms and shouted "Welcome! To the The Benzini Brothers circus spectacular!" From behind him, a large parade of performers filed out in time with the music. Girls in sparkly outfits, men in tights, animals with glittery reins. It was beautiful. From on top of a horse, a man threw Lizzy a colorful flower which she blushed instantly as he winked at her.

Once the parade had ended, the acrobats took center ring. Lizzy gripped onto me tightly as they did stunts on the high wire and on trapeze. After that, a lion tamer challenged three large male lions with only a small chair and a whip. He commanded them to roll, shake, and play dead, causing Lizzy to clap excitedly at the trick. Soon after, the clowns drove in in a tiny car, awing us both at how twelve of them came out from such a small space. They threw pies at each others faces and squirted water into the crowd. Lizzy was both intimidated and humored by them.

At the last act, the ringmaster with the braids stepped into center ring while workers pulled in a large metal cage covered by a velvet sheet. "And now, ladies and gentlemen. A wonder, never before seen in the world! Rare and exotic! Dangerous and deadly! I shall face this beast alone!" He raised his hands above his head, urging on the support of the crowd. In his hand was a whip.

He stepped to the cage and pulled down the extremely large sheet. I felt my breath leave me and I grasped onto Lizzy unwillingly. Inside the cage was an extremely large wolf. It was chestnut brown and about the size of a large horse. It was pacing back and forth in the cage, its teeth bared. They wheeled the cage forward, getting extremely close to Lizzy and I. Of course, I would pick front row seats. Around us there were shrieks and cries from others in the stands.

"Do not be alarmed, Ladies! Deadly, as he may seem, he knows his master, when he sees him!" The ringmaster climbed into the cage and began to unwind the whip.

It was then that the wolf stopped circling around in its cage. It paused right in front of Lizzy and I. It's eyes were locked on mine, and mine were locked on his. I felt like everything around me had disappeared. Like I was no longer sitting there. Like I hadn't a care in the world. Like I wasn't homeless anymore. The wolf tilted his head to the side and continued to stare at me, his facial expression calming a little.

"Up!" The ringmaster commanded and whipped the wolf on his hind end. The wolf growled lightly and stood up. It hesitated to look back at me before trotting over to where it had stood before in front of the ringmaster.

"Paige!" Lizzy whined and pushed against me. "You're squishing me!" She complained and pried my arm off of her.

"Oh, sorry," I murmured, my eyes locked on the performing wolf.


	3. Chapter 3

This time, I pulled Lizzy behind me, impatiently. "Paige!" She whined. "Slow down!" Grass stuck upward and grabbed onto her feet, making her stumble every now and then. "Where are we going?"

As if I hadn't heard her, I looked through the crowds of people as we rounded behind the tent. Holding her hand tightly, I picked up my pace and followed some of the more familiar performers, such as the midget clown with a dog. "Excuse me!" I chased after him. "Excuse me!"

He turned around, the tiny dog tucked under his arm. "Yes?" He said, slightly agitated.

"Um..Hi," I stammered, unsure of what to say. "I'm looking for the Wolf?"

His eyes looked me up and down then he sighed. "Who are you, exactly?"

I thought for a moment. "I was told I had to uh..." I looked around and found a pail of water. I grabbed it and held it up. "I have to fill up his water bowl."

The tiny clown rolled his eyes. "Sorry, Kid. Get lost." The clown turned to go but I refused to leave.

"No! I'm serious!" I took a step towards the clown, making him turn around again. Behind me, Lizzy grasped my shirt tightly as if she was trying to pull me back with her.

"Look, Kid, beat it! We got enough-"

"I'll take it from here, Kinko."

From behind us, a large man without a shirt took the bucket from my hand. His touch was so warm, but so was his eyes. He had spiked black hair and dark tan skin. His smile gave me goosebumps. "Whatever you say, Jake." The clown rolled his eyes and let down his little dog.

"Next time you try to sneak around a circus, maybe you should befriend a worker first." The man winked at me and motioned me to follow him. Clamped onto me, I pried Lizzy off my hip and took her hand as I followed the cute boy. "So what are you doing around here?"

Shyly, I pulled my loose hair behind my ear. "I was looking for the Wolf that was in the show. He was a very beautiful creature."

He nodded. "I agree. But I feel bad that he has to be kept up like that." He led us into a tent where a large cage was set up just as it was in the big top. Only now it was empty.

"Where is it?" I asked, puzzled.

"My dad's probably walking him," he noted and poured the water through the fence. I took the moment to look him over swiftly. He was covered in muscles. Again, giving me goosebumps. Lizzy noticed right away and elbowed me in the ribs just before he stood up and looked in our direction.

Suddenly, there was a scream and a bustle outside the tent. We all ran out instinctively to see what was going on. One of the leopard appaloosas was rearing while the woman in a sparkly outfit lay screaming on the ground. The horse took off in our direction, men chasing it but not able to keep up with the speed. "Catch that horse!" They hollered.

Quickly, I pried Lizzy off of me and ran towards the horse. "Paige!" Lizzy screamed at me, but I was already about to meet him. Grabbing onto the horse's neck, I used my strength to pull my leg over his body, landing me safely on his back. Pulling on his reins, I slowed him down just before he ran out of the circle of tents. "Woah, there, easy," I murmured, turning him around and trotting back to the crowd of gathering people. In the back of the crowd, the woman in the glittery outfit was being carried off by other men while the boy I was with took hold of the reins.

"Where did you learn to do that?" He gaped at me, along with several others.

"My parents were horse people," I shrugged and slid off the horses back.

Kinko, the short clown, pushed his way through the large crowd and nudged him. "Jake, Marlena's hurt. Real bad too." His face was grim. The little dog with him had its ears down and whimpered.

Jake looked over the heads of people then sighed heavily. "Does Dad know?"

"If he doesn't already he will soon. They're taking her to the hospital. They think they might have to amputate her foot."

He ran his hand through his hair, keeping a tight grip on the reins of the appaloosa. "There goes one act..." he groaned. "Just what he needs."

"What are we going to do, Jacob?" Kinko asked.

My voice decided to unwillingly come out of my blabbering mouth. "Well maybe I can stand in. I know a few tricks with horses."

Both Jacob and Kinko looked at me. Kinko's glance was somewhat irritated. Jake's, however, was slightly hopeful. "Really, now. Stuff like what you just pulled off? You can do that?"

I shrugged my shoulders and nodded.

"Do you have any other jobs or commitments?" Jacob asked.

I shook my head.

"No family?" He question, an eyebrow raising.

Again, I shook my head. "No. Just Lizzy and I."

Jake pondered this and thought for a moment.

Kinko rolled his eyes. "Jake! What are you doing! You can't just hire on the fly!"

Instead, Jake ignored him and took a step closer to me, a small smile appearing on his face. "You wanna run away with the circus?"

Kinko gave up and took the horse from Jacob, leading him away with the little dog close behind.

Lizzy, wide eyed, stepped forward. "I wanna! I wanna run away with the circus! Can we, Sis! Huh!" She tugged at my arm happily.

Jacob laughed and got down on a knee beside Lizzy. "Yeah, huh?" He smiled and winked.

I sighed heavily and grinned. What did we have to lose? It was better than going back to the lousy hotel anyway. At least we could start over. "Alright, fine!" I smirked.

Lizzy pulled a fist down. "Yes!"

Jacob stood up grinning from ear to ear. He held out his hand. "Jacob Black."

I took it and shook it. "Paige Rosenbluth."

"Welcome to the circus, Paige." Jacob bent over and kissed the back of my hand. I looked into his eyes and smiled back. There was something familiar about those eyes, but I couldn't put my finger on it.


	4. Chapter 4

**JACOB**

I knew Dad would be settled in his car by now, playing cards with the other owners. He had reason to be, we had had a good turn out today, helping a little with our debt problem. I had helped Paige find a place to stay in one of the cars with the acrobatic women. When they saw little Lizzy, they melted as if they had seen a tiny puppy. Paige left her with the girls so she could go and get her things. Which caused a little tweak of nerves in me. When I had saw her, I had already noticed how they looked, her and Lizzy. I instantly wanted to take her away from all of it, bring her to a better life. Maybe not a fancy home with warm feasts every day. But better than what it looked like she had come from. And so now knowing that she was about to leave, alone, back into the city to find their things...The thought made me nervous.

"Maybe I should go with you," I stood with my arms crossed, watching her watch Lizzy as the acrobats put some makeup on her.

Paige shook her head and stood beside me. "No, it's a bit of a walk, and only I know where it is."

"It's not safe," I said quickly. Maybe too quickly.

She glanced at me, her eyes narrowing a bit. "I can handle myself, thanks." She turned to go out the train car when suddenly, as if I had no control of my own body, my hand reached out and grabbed her upper arm.

"Wait," I looked into her big eyes. My heart melted just as it had when I first laid eyes on her. "What if something happens to you?" I didn't want to even think of the possibilities.

She pulled her arm out of my reach, looking me up and down with worry. "I said, I will be fine." And with that she was gone.

I passed through the thin hallway that was on the side of Dad's train car. His was the only one with red velvet interior with gold trim out of the entire train. I could smell the cigar smoke and alcohol from the door. I coughed lightly and squinted a little. I had never agreed with the whole smoking thing. I came to the end of the hallway to find my father playing poker with three other men.

"Ah! And speaking of our Star Act!" My father said, raising his glass and setting down the cards in his hand. "Wonderful show today, Son." The other men nodded and murmured before taking sips of their drinks.

I ignored his small toast and sighed. I never liked to talk about the show. Let alone, my act specifically. "Dad, can I talk to you?" I motioned to the back of the car. He nodded and followed, setting down his drink, but not before finishing the rest of it. I held the door open for him then walked with him onto the back platform.

"What is it, Jake? Wait, don't tell me, is it about Marlena? Well don't worry, Son, we'll find a new girl to show the horses!" He beamed. I could smell the foul stench of whiskey all around him. It burned my nose and made my eyes water a little.

"It's not that, Dad," I gasped, trying not to breathe.

"Ohh, I see...You had feelings for her, eh? I'm sorry to hear that, but you're just going to have to find another girl to bring back to your room-"

"Dad!" I growled, gritting my teeth. "Shut up!"

He groaned and ran his hand over his face. "What do you want, Jacob?"

"I imprinted," I spat out, watching his reaction closely. At first, it was confusion. Then a hint of realization, then exasperation.

"Jacob, are you sure?"

I nodded, looking him dead in the eye. "Positive."

"It was that girl, wasn't it? That damn hobo girl in the front row." He sneered.

I growled in the back of my throat, using all my strength not to push him over the railing. "Don't you _ever_ say that about her!"

He narrowed his eyes and looked at me, unafraid. "Well it doesn't matter now, we leave tomorrow."

"And she's coming with us." I said promptly, my teeth bared.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"No." He turned to go. "Absolutely not. We aren't some train that picks up homeless mouths!"

"She can work," I argued, pushing the door closed before he could reach it. "She's amazing with the horses. When Marlena's horse got away, she jumped on him mid-canter, _mid-canter,_ and stopped him. I've never seen anything like it. She can take Marlena's place."

Dad sat and pondered this for a minute. He then sighed, shook his head and looked down at his shoes. "Fine, have it your way, Jacob. But I swear, if she causes one single problem-"

"She won't," I interrupted, leading him back through the door and into the smoke and whiskey.

* * *

><p>She must not have realized that I was behind her. Lizzy had fallen asleep in the upper bunk, her face covered in glitter and powder. Paige was standing on a bucket tucking her in. "Goodnight," She whispered and kissed her forehead.<p>

Suddenly, my boot hit a bad board, making a loud creaking sound. Paige whipped around, causing the bucket to tip over. Before she could hit the ground I lurched forward and caught her in my arms. She was breathing heavily and looking around, dazed. "Are you ok?" I asked.

Blinking, she nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. You just scared me, that's all." She hopped down out of my arms quickly.

"Was everything fine getting your things?" I wondered aloud, looking around for a suitcase of some sort.

"Hm? Oh, yes. Like I said. I was fine." She pushed a black trash bag behind a corner with her foot.

"I talked with my Father. He said you're more than welcome here."

"Well, if he hadn't, I had already moved in," She smirked and winked, sitting down on the bed. How much I wished she could come with me instead of stay here. Maybe one night. But for now, it was obvious that there had been times I had moved too quickly. After all, how was she supposed to know that I imprinted on her?


End file.
